How Twitter Saved Me $2000

Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by Cameron in MacBook, twitter

A lesson in the power of having a network for those people who still snort when you mention Twitter (who are, I’m sure, the same people who still snort when you mention climate change).

About a year ago, I dropped my Macbook Pro – twice. Both times I was traveling and the shoulder bag I had it in slipped off of my shoulder while I was wheeling several suitcases around France. The result of the drops was pretty severe damage to the case of the Macbook. It still worked fine, it was just dinged up pretty badly. Until recently. A few weeks ago, I stopped being able to shut the case properly and then the piece of plastic that holds the screen in the lid cracked and broke.

I knew it was time for a new Macbook case.

So, I emailed photos to a couple of local Macbook repair places.

The folks at Next Byte were completely useless. All they could tell me was “you’ll have to bring it in for us to look at it”. If I had time to bring it in, I wouldnt have bothered sending photos, you useless morons.

The folks at The Mac Doctors in Annerley, were, as always, very polite, friendly and helpful. They emailed me back a quote – $2500 – and explained why it would cost so much (the screen comes with the case, no way around it) and suggested I’d probably be better off buying a new Macbook.

Instead, I posted a question on Twitter: “Does anyone have a dead Macbook Pro 17″ they’d be willing to sell me?”

Within an hour I had three “yes” replies. Adrian Lynch was the first and after a quick phone call, we’d negotiated a deal. I put the money in his account and had a courier pick up his dead machine (he’d drown his keyboard in wine).

Yesterday, when his dead unit turned up at my place, I took it into The Mac Doctors and today I picked up my perfectly good Macbook Pro – my drive and motherboard stuffed into Adrian’s old case and screen.

Total cost, including his unit, the courier and the hatchet job?

A little less than $500.

The power of Twitter.

Haul 17″ Macbook sleeve

Posted on 06. May, 2009 by Cameron Reilly in MacBook

I was looking for a sleeve for my 17″ Macbook Pro – something that isnt as bulky as a whole bag / backpack for when I go to meetings – and the folks at Haul sent me one of theirs. Haul are pretty cool – all of their sleeves and bags are made from recycled billboards! Mine is apparently an old AMEX billboard. They make other things as well from truck inner-tubes, number plates, printing blankets and aluminium cans.

And you can chat with them on Twitter.

Macbook Pro Screen Of Death

Posted on 14. Feb, 2008 by Cameron Reilly in MacBook, Macintosh

Yep, gotta love that superior Apple engineering… it worked on a cold start.

Why doesn’t my Macbook wake up?

Posted on 12. Nov, 2007 by Cameron Reilly in MacBook, Macintosh

Here’s another Macbook support question.

Sometimes when I open up my Macbook, it doesn’t come out of “sleep” mode. I try closing the lid and opening it again a few times but that doesn’t seem to help. I always end up shutting it completely down with my finger on the power button until it re-boots but I’d rather not do that for a number of reasons.

Have any of your Mac fanboyz/grlz experienced this before? What’s the story?